Playing in Sandboxes: Dragon Age & Fable
Aug. 30th, 2024 08:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pineauraI don’t play around in other, established sandboxes often, but it can be fun. When I do play around, eventually I end up taking my OCs I was exploring with and put them in my own story. Sometimes the story is clearly inspired by the world the characters were initially played in. Other times I end up in a completely different direction.
Recent characters I’ve shared (the heroine, champion, herald, braider, mirage, and wanderer) are one of the cases where I started playing in a sandbox before taking them out and making my own story, that is, playing in my own sandbox. Dragon Age has definitely had its inspiration with them, but you may be surprised to find out that it’s hardly the only frame of reference. There’s many things I’ll pull from over the course of time, but what I’ll say first is that at the same time I was playing Dragon Age: Origins I was also playing Fable 2. (It’s probably odd to others, but I would actually get these two games mixed up for awhile as a result of playing them at the same time haha I think I still have moments from time to time trying to remember if a side quest was from Dragon Age or Fable. Silly, I know, but my brain does that.) As you might imagine though, this would play a part when I started to explore my own story.
I think the parts that are Dragon Age are noticeable even to those who may have never played the games. The Fable aspects might be lost on others if you aren’t familiar with the series though. Over time other inspirations would contribute to shape the story to what it eventually becomes (it’s technically still ongoing - which means there’s always more opportunity for more inspiration to come and change things further - stories are fluid by nature), but there’s no denying that both Dragon Age and Fable were the sandboxes that allowed me to consider how I could approach things.
One aspect I would think to approach was: who is the hero?
The title is given to the protagonists in both series. It’s a fairly common title in stories in general though, isn’t it? But I enjoyed the way these two games would explore it.
One of the aspects both series explore is a character’s alignment and, by extension, their personality. I technically struggle to be mean in games haha, but these games allow options to help develop the character you’re playing with. They even have moments where you can have a fun response be it sarcastic, cheeky, or silly. The writing in these games have a lot of charm to them. I wish to emulate even a smidge of that in my own stuff one day.
With all that said, the hero is shaped by the actions of the player. You can be on the good and kind side of things with maybe little witty remarks thrown about if you think the situation fits well for it or just curious to see how that will play out. You can tilt more on being snarky or terse or cold. And yet, no matter what you do, the main character becomes a hero.
In the games, people have such a wide array of how they think about the main character; how regardless of intent and/or execution of one’s actions, you may be seen as a positive force and a negative one. Sometimes by the same person! This can also change over the course of time. But at the end of it all, you’re a hero. You can be a rude hero, a kind hero, a hero who is diplomatic, or a hero who just wants to make coin. No matter the personality or decisions made, no matter how other characters perceive your intent, you are still a hero.
In Fable, your characterization can shift just based on your actions. It’s a neat mechanic actually. It even has physical representation where what you do over time gets reflected by your appearance and by how other people perceive you. And due to the way things are coded, you can be someone who is, let’s say, with a good alignment, but also a corrupt person.
In Dragon Age, you can shift your alignment based on decisions and actions you make also. It can even effect how your own party members view you, determining if they approve of them or not. It can even get to the point on whether or not they will stay with you. Opinions of you fluctuate with each option presented.
So who is the hero? They are whoever you shape them to be. And the hero I would make (and make, and make again, and perhaps I will make yet more!) would take from aspects I got to experience from both Dragon Age and Fable.
These two games try to push the narrative that player choices matter to the events in the game and the characterization of the playable character. They’re not exactly as complex as things are in life haha, but they do allow for the exploration. That’s the key. It’s why the games have such appeal to so many. And it’s easy to see why there’s excitement for the upcoming latest instalments for both series!
While I know they are far from the only games to have allowed for your choices to change things in the game (heck, Fable 1 probably had an influence on Dragon Age: Origins to begin with) and are certainly not the first to provide more than two options (and not like how some games give the illusion of choicebut though must), they approach this mechanic in fun ways that makes them stand on their own. It’s due to these choices and allowing for experimentation (which itself allows for replayability) that the options these games presented us is what allowed someone like me to explore as much as I did. Such is the basis for which I was able to craft my characters and their stories. Creative design lead to creative endeavours!
Regardless of what all my sources of inspiration are, I know that they can come from anywhere and it’s worth allowing yourself to explore. Sometimes it’s neat to start by playing in someone else’s sandbox.
I’ll talk about my characters I’ve recently shared (that is, the heroine, champion, herald, etc.) in more detail later since recent excitement has brought this story to the forefront of my mind again (a new Dragon Age and Fable?! bless) and, well, I like thinking about them. This would give me an opportunity to talk about them, their inspirations, how they’ve developed, and how they’re still developing. Honestly, a good exercise to do with one’s characters and stories. What words will stumble out won’t be known until I sit and write them though. Haha!
Til then, cheers! ✌️
Recent characters I’ve shared (the heroine, champion, herald, braider, mirage, and wanderer) are one of the cases where I started playing in a sandbox before taking them out and making my own story, that is, playing in my own sandbox. Dragon Age has definitely had its inspiration with them, but you may be surprised to find out that it’s hardly the only frame of reference. There’s many things I’ll pull from over the course of time, but what I’ll say first is that at the same time I was playing Dragon Age: Origins I was also playing Fable 2. (It’s probably odd to others, but I would actually get these two games mixed up for awhile as a result of playing them at the same time haha I think I still have moments from time to time trying to remember if a side quest was from Dragon Age or Fable. Silly, I know, but my brain does that.) As you might imagine though, this would play a part when I started to explore my own story.
I think the parts that are Dragon Age are noticeable even to those who may have never played the games. The Fable aspects might be lost on others if you aren’t familiar with the series though. Over time other inspirations would contribute to shape the story to what it eventually becomes (it’s technically still ongoing - which means there’s always more opportunity for more inspiration to come and change things further - stories are fluid by nature), but there’s no denying that both Dragon Age and Fable were the sandboxes that allowed me to consider how I could approach things.
One aspect I would think to approach was: who is the hero?
The title is given to the protagonists in both series. It’s a fairly common title in stories in general though, isn’t it? But I enjoyed the way these two games would explore it.
One of the aspects both series explore is a character’s alignment and, by extension, their personality. I technically struggle to be mean in games haha, but these games allow options to help develop the character you’re playing with. They even have moments where you can have a fun response be it sarcastic, cheeky, or silly. The writing in these games have a lot of charm to them. I wish to emulate even a smidge of that in my own stuff one day.
With all that said, the hero is shaped by the actions of the player. You can be on the good and kind side of things with maybe little witty remarks thrown about if you think the situation fits well for it or just curious to see how that will play out. You can tilt more on being snarky or terse or cold. And yet, no matter what you do, the main character becomes a hero.
In the games, people have such a wide array of how they think about the main character; how regardless of intent and/or execution of one’s actions, you may be seen as a positive force and a negative one. Sometimes by the same person! This can also change over the course of time. But at the end of it all, you’re a hero. You can be a rude hero, a kind hero, a hero who is diplomatic, or a hero who just wants to make coin. No matter the personality or decisions made, no matter how other characters perceive your intent, you are still a hero.
In Fable, your characterization can shift just based on your actions. It’s a neat mechanic actually. It even has physical representation where what you do over time gets reflected by your appearance and by how other people perceive you. And due to the way things are coded, you can be someone who is, let’s say, with a good alignment, but also a corrupt person.
In Dragon Age, you can shift your alignment based on decisions and actions you make also. It can even effect how your own party members view you, determining if they approve of them or not. It can even get to the point on whether or not they will stay with you. Opinions of you fluctuate with each option presented.
So who is the hero? They are whoever you shape them to be. And the hero I would make (and make, and make again, and perhaps I will make yet more!) would take from aspects I got to experience from both Dragon Age and Fable.
These two games try to push the narrative that player choices matter to the events in the game and the characterization of the playable character. They’re not exactly as complex as things are in life haha, but they do allow for the exploration. That’s the key. It’s why the games have such appeal to so many. And it’s easy to see why there’s excitement for the upcoming latest instalments for both series!
While I know they are far from the only games to have allowed for your choices to change things in the game (heck, Fable 1 probably had an influence on Dragon Age: Origins to begin with) and are certainly not the first to provide more than two options (and not like how some games give the illusion of choice
Regardless of what all my sources of inspiration are, I know that they can come from anywhere and it’s worth allowing yourself to explore. Sometimes it’s neat to start by playing in someone else’s sandbox.
I’ll talk about my characters I’ve recently shared (that is, the heroine, champion, herald, etc.) in more detail later since recent excitement has brought this story to the forefront of my mind again (a new Dragon Age and Fable?! bless) and, well, I like thinking about them. This would give me an opportunity to talk about them, their inspirations, how they’ve developed, and how they’re still developing. Honestly, a good exercise to do with one’s characters and stories. What words will stumble out won’t be known until I sit and write them though. Haha!
Til then, cheers! ✌️
